Canada
Best result: No injuries, no surprises, no goals against.
Worst result: Injuries, surprises, goals against.
Probable result: Another gold medalÂ…or four years of the blame game. Really, there are no other options.

Czech Republic
Best result: ShootoutsÂ…so many shootouts.
Worst result: The names Â“JagrÂ” or Â“HasekÂ” appear in the same sentence as Â“groin injuryÂ”.
Probable result: Win their final game in a nail-biter. But is it for goldÂ…or bronze?

Russia
Best result: A harmonious dressing room - until the gold medal celebrations.
Worst result: A return to Cold War rhetoric. (Granted, this is a long shot.)
Probable result: Domination, or ruination. You knowÂ…the usual.

United States
Best result: One more run at glory for the old guard of Modano, Weight, Tkachuk and Guerin.
Worst result: A hotel room, a fire extinguisher and unresolved childhood issues.
Probable result: A last-minute invitation to Jim Craig.

Finland
Best result: The bronze medal.
Worst result: Third place.
Probable result: Somewhere between second and fourth.

Slovakia
Best result: For the so-called Â“seventh-bestÂ” team of hockey's Big 7, a medal of any color would be monumental.
Worst result: Eighth place.
Probable result: An upset win, maybe two, before being undone by defense and goaltending.

No whammies, no whammies!

Would Wayne Gretzky lie? That was the salacious question of the week as Gretzky was forced to deny his involvement in the gambling ring that was allegedly financed by Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet.

While Gretzky's word remains as good as gold in this little cyber-corner of the hockey world - it's impossible to think he'd jeopardize any of his lifelong legacy, just to make a few bucks - that's not to say we're naÃ¯ve enough to believe Gretzky has never lied.

In fact, he fessed up to lying to the public in the 1995 book he did with Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly, Gretzky: An Autobiography. The fib happened during that tumultuous period in the summer of 1988 when he was traded from Edmonton to Los Angeles. Gretzky said, at one point, he out-and-out lied to newspaper reporters to keep them off the track.

And, earlier in the book, he said he swore a blue streak on the ice, at least when he was a young player in the NHL.

So, no, he's not perfect. Never was, despite what the headlines indicated.

But, did Wayne Gretzky bet on NHL hockey games? Or even, games involving his own team, the Coyotes?